The Ra’anana Municipality is expected to sign its first roof agreement with the government on Monday, a deal worth about NIS 1.75 billion that will add nearly 6,800 housing units and double the city’s commercial and employment space.
The agreement, obtained by ynet and its sister publication, Mammon, lays out the construction of 6,823 housing units and sets a development blueprint for the next two decades. City officials say the plan will support population growth of roughly 20 percent. Ra’anana currently has about 100,000 residents.
Roof agreements are strategic deals between municipalities, the Israel Land Authority and the ministries of Construction and Housing and Finance. They provide state-backed advance funding for infrastructure needed to support new housing, in exchange for a municipal commitment to promote rapid construction. In recent years the State Comptroller has raised concerns about their efficiency. According to the Finance Ministry’s accountant general, about 218,000 housing units have been marketed under the agreements as of December 2024, roughly 42 percent of the total promised.
Under the new agreement, the government will invest about NIS 600 million in developing three new neighborhoods. Another NIS 400 million will go toward major urban infrastructure and NIS 48 million toward new public buildings. The largest project is the Young District in western Ra’anana, a 1,066-dunam development approved last year.
The new quarter will rise west of Derech HaPark, north of Route 531 and south of Route 541, near Highway 20 and the recently opened Shefayim transport terminal. Construction in Ra’anana will be capped at 15 stories, in line with Mayor Chaim Broyde policy against high-rise towers. The plan calls for about 6,040 apartments, including 1,234 units already allocated in the government’s “Discounted Apartment” lottery, with 20 percent reserved for local residents.
The western Ra’anana plan includes nearly 692,000 square meters of commercial and employment space and a range of public facilities, including schools, community centers, youth clubs and synagogues. About 180 dunams will be designated as open space. Roughly NIS 184 million will fund a new bridge linking Ra’anana Park with Herzliya across Route 531.
The development sits partly on agricultural land belonging to the Hof HaSharon Regional Council. The Interior Ministry has convened a boundaries committee to review transferring the land to Ra’anana’s jurisdiction. No final decision has been made.
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Haim Katz, Chaim Broyde, Yaakov (Yanki) Quint
(Photo: Yoav Dudkevich, Marc Israel Sellem, Eli Dasa)
Additional funds include NIS 73 million to upgrade city drainage systems, NIS 101 million for public buildings and a new promenade along Shimon Peres Road, and an updated connection to the Ra’anana bypass road. Across the city the agreement adds more than 705,000 square meters of commercial and employment space.
Two other plans are included. The Ra’anana North project will add about 700 housing units and aims to connect western Ra’anana with older neighborhoods to the south. The Givat Hen Triangle in the southeast will include about 200 units and 31 dunams of open and public space near the small forest grove known as HaYa’ar HaKatan.
“This roof agreement is my most significant achievement as mayor,” Broyde said. “It is a major growth engine that will secure Ra’anana’s future and upgrade infrastructure citywide. It will help young residents continue living in the city and preserve Ra’anana’s community character.”
Construction and Housing Minister Haim Katz said the agreement fits his broader policy of strengthening established cities and accelerating development nationwide. Yaakov (Yanki) Quint, director of the Israel Land Authority, said the deal advances the national effort to expand the country’s housing supply and ease prices.